By Hank Russell
New York Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Kathy Hochul moved to intervene in a lawsuit that they said threatens the successful completion of the Sunrise Wind Project. James and Hochul said this major offshore wind development will deliver clean energy to New York, support thousands of jobs, and strengthen the state’s electric grid.
The lawsuit, filed by Green Oceans and other plaintiffs in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks to vacate federal approvals for the project and could delay or block construction. Among the defendants named include Sunrise Wind, the State of New York and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
“Contrary to the president’s claims, wind energy is essential for our economy, our environment, and our electric grid,” James said. “Sunrise Wind will power hundreds of thousands of homes, support thousands of good-paying jobs, and help protect New Yorkers from pollution and climate change. This administration has already tried to shut down Sunrise Wind once, and we will not leave the future of this critical project in its hands.”
“Offshore wind projects like Sunrise Wind will not only provide needed clean energy that will help our environment, but also create good-paying union jobs, benefit our local economies, and help secure our energy independence,” said Hochul. “We successfully fought the Trump administration’s multiple attempts to stop construction on this fully-permitted project and expect that we will prevail against this lawsuit. While Washington Republicans are hell-bent on taking us backward, here in New York we remain committed to protecting our clean energy future.”
The Sunrise Wind Project is a 924-megawatt offshore wind project that is expected to generate enough electricity to power 600,000 New York homes. The project is expected to begin delivering power to New York’s electric grid this year and become fully operational next year. This past March, Green Oceans and other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit seeking to block construction and vacate the federal government’s approval of the project.
If successful, the lawsuit could delay completion or even force cancellation of the project, leaving New York with significant costs and none of the project’s benefits. Given this administration’s past statements and actions opposing wind energy, including its repeated attempts to halt wind energy projects, Attorney General James is seeking to intervene to ensure New York’s interests are fully defended.
In a statement, Green Oceans said it is raising awareness about the serious national security issues posed by offshore wind projects.” The volunteer organization cited a study by Westlope Consulting which found that ‘a majority of the turbines in these projects may significantly interfere with the only land-based Early Warning Radar system protecting the entire East Coast from hostile ballistic missiles. We believe this should concern the American people and the US government.”
As previously reported in Long Island Life & Politics, the Interior Department announced that it has placed a pause on leases for five wind farm projects, including Sunrise Wind. The agency cited “national security concerns” as a reason for this decision.
James and Hochul argue that New York has significant economic, environmental, public health, and sovereign interests in the successful completion of Sunrise Wind. They said the project is expected to provide more than $875 million in economic benefits to New York by the end of its third year of operations, with additional benefits to follow, and also supports more than 3,500 jobs in construction, steel manufacturing, shipbuilding, and operations, including many high-paying union jobs.
LILP reached out to Ørsted, the company behind the Sunrise Wind project. A spokesperson said that it does not comment on pending litigation.
LILP also reached out multiple times to Green Oceans, but did not hear back as of press time.